Local Indian cold rolled coil (CRC) prices have moved down over the past week amid an unclear market outlook, with key industrial users remaining cautious about restocking as demand sentiment stays bearish.
Sources said that benchmark 0.9 mm CRC prices have declined by INR 300/mt ($3/mt) to INR 51,000/mt ($567/mt) ex-Mumbai and have lost INR 700/mt ($8/mt) to INR 55,300/mt ($614/mt) ex-Chennai in the south.
According to sources, buyers are uncertain of demand forecasts in the short term. This is indicated by large users like automobile manufacturers pausing restocking despite recording robust sales growth in November, but unsure of it being sustained into next year. At the same time, a few southern India-based re-rollers were heard to be pushing discounted sales to check inventory rises, the sources added.
“The CRC market is extremely bearish with excess inventories and sluggish demand weighing on prices,” a Mumbai-based distributor told SteelOrbis.
“There are no positive drivers in the market. Mills are also not supportive as expectations of some price cuts to drive sales have been belied. So, we expect prices to remain range-bound with a strong negative bias,” he added.
$1 = INR 89.89
